African Fashion: Prosper Africa Aims To Expand The African Fashion And Art Industries.

At Heineken Lagos Fashion Week, which honors Africa in shaping the future of fashion, the city of Lagos welcomed fashion enthusiasts, designers, models and investors from Africa and beyond.

Through the US Government’s Prosper Africa project, US and African businesses will be able to tap into new customers, suppliers and investment opportunities. Landmark Towers hosted fashion and art his designers and corporate investors at the Fashion Business Series event to discuss issues affecting creative business expansion and how to expand the industry in Africa.

The African fashion industry is witnessing increasing global awareness and demand, according to a study titled ‘Investment and Collaboration Potential in Africa’s Creative Industries’. In addition, it said major international stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdales are implementing retail initiatives to support up-and-coming African designers.

US Consul General Will Stevens explained to reporters how initiatives like Prosper Africa can expand the fashion industry in Nigeria. “As a Washington, D.C.-based entity, Prosper Africa supports individual initiatives, hires companies to produce reports, examines creative industries, and works together to export or scale and accelerate activities. I’m trying to find out what I can do.

They identified specific challenges and opportunities for US government and private sector investment.

He cites the example of a small female designer who received a $10,000 grant from the United States Foundation for African Development (USADF) after completing a U.S. government-sponsored training program. He said he would look at everything up to scale. company in Nigeria.
He added that institutional investors with a minimum investment of $100 million are being brought in to fund venture capital firms operating in Nigeria.

The report argues that the art market needs stronger market links to establish global alliances to expand exports of African art.

Prosper Africa aims to address some of the issues regarding physical and talent infrastructure in the fashion ecosystem from an investment climate perspective.

In an interview with a reporter, CI Workshop art and fashion educator Claire Idera said that one of the fundamental issues in the fashion and art design ecosystem is education. She claimed there were no art or design classes in the Nigerian education system, so her company ‘CI Her Workshop’ trained people in studying design, creating fabrics and introducing developments into clothing. doing.

She also pushes governments, other investors and private venture capital to sponsor these programs. She claims that most of the fashion industry takes place on the street and on social media. There, brands will compete to get her as many as 10,000 followers, hoping this will boost sales. They haven’t gone to fashion school or had proper training, so they don’t yet realize the problem is in design.

Expanding your business from customization to mass production requires a lot of work in the fashion industry. Also, business owners should be trained on export markets and how to properly package their products for the US and international markets. The Consul General said in a statement that served as his conclusion.

Content courtesy of Business day & NFH